Photo Friday: Beyond the New Calaveras Dam

Happy Photo Friday!

Here are some beautiful aerial photos of the New Calaveras Dam and Calaveras Reservoir.  Photos are courtesy of SkyHawk Photography.  

Here is a stunning photo of the Calaveras Reservoir from the south looking north towards the New Calaveras Dam. Calaveras Reservoir helps supply drinking water to 2.7 million Bay Area residents. 

Workers completed the road that leads to the dam.

















We couldn't resist adding a picture of the new intake tower.  
  

The seismically robust New Calaveras Dam is in full operation. It can now hold its historic storage capacity of 96,850 acre feet of water (31 billion gallons).  

The dam was completed in May 2019. The team is finishing up a few minor items at the Dam, but the majority of construction activities are now complete. 

See you around the valley! 

Getting Ready for Fire Season

  

A passerby would have assumed that a huge emergency must have been unfolding at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) new Sunol Yard on May 30^th.  No less than five separate fire department units were on scene, sharing space with Alameda and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s vehicles, California Highway Patrol, and even the East Bay Regional Park District’s Police helicopter. 

Thankfully, this was merely the East Bay First Responder Liaison Lunch hosted by the SFPUC’s Natural Resources and Lands Management Division each year. More than 70 representatives from all swaths of local law enforcement kindly set aside two hours of their time for coordination and planning for fire season.

 CalFire’s Mike Marcucci (Deputy Chief – State Operations), discusses fire department resource planning.

The SFPUC owns 35,000 acres of watershed lands in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties. Managed by Natural Resources and Lands Management staff, these lands house water infrastructure that is crucial to the drinking water supply of our 2.7 million customers, including two drinking water reservoirs, pump stations, pipelines, and tunnels. These lands have been protected from development as drinking water sources, which also makes them vulnerable to trespass, criminal activity, and fire.

Alameda County Sheriff Ahern, Cal Fire’s Mike Marcucci, and SFPUC's Neal Fujita discuss the specific roles played by first responders and SFPUC during a fire.

It is important that our staff meet these first responding agencies before an emergency. Thus, the Liaison Lunches were born. Over home-made tri-tip and salad, first responders meet SFPUC staff and become familiar with the watershed and the location of entry roads and gates. The goal: to plan for the inevitable eventuality of a fire on or near our watershed.

“Whatever the scale, we will have emergencies again this year on the watersheds – but we’re better prepared because of the hard work to prepare for these gatherings.” said Tim Ramirez, Director of the Natural Resources and Lands Management Division.

We would like to thank our First Responders for being such tremendous partners in keeping our watershed lands and our communities safe. Thank you for your service!

Alameda County Fire Department

Alameda County Sherriff’s Office

Cal Fire

California Department of Fish and Game

California Highway Patrol

East Bay Regional Park District

Fremont Fire Department

Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department

Santa Clara County Fire Department

Santa Clara County Sherriff’s office

Spring Valley Fire Department

Be Safe Out there! See you around the Valley!

A Family Connection to the Old Calaveras Dam

We at the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project were extremely honored to host a very special guest, Geneva Barrett (Hunt). She was accompanied by her daughter, Debbie and her son-in-law, Randy  of Dublin, California.

Geneva has a special connection to the old Calaveras Dam. Her father, Frank Hunt, worked on the second Calaveras Dam (the first dam slumped under its own weight in 1918). The second Calaveras Dam was built between 1918 and 1925. Frank Hunt was a civil engineer on the project and operated a drag line.  Geneva was born in Sunol in 1927.


Randy and Debbie with Geneva Barrett (Hunt) on far right.




The late Frank Hunt circa 1920's.

After the dam's completion, her father relocated the family to Oregon where he continued to work on dams in and around the the state. Geneva recalls her dad as being very dedicated to his profession and to his family. During those times, her father worked all week at his designated job site and came home during the weekends only. She was one of twelve kids.



Frank and Maude Hunt with their first four children in Sunol.


Geneva told us that seeing the old dam was on her bucket list. We were so pleased to meet her and her family.

See you around the Valley!

Photo Friday: Dedication Celebration

On Friday, May 3, 2019 we were delighted to celebrate the completion of the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project, and dedicate the New Calaveras Dam. Over 300 people joined us on top of the new dam to celebrate this momentous occasion. In attendance were community members as well as industry leaders, and folks that took an active role in the construction of the dam.



A view of the celebration from the left abutment.




Dan Wade, Director of Water Capital Programs thanks team members for their work.




We were honored to formally dedicate the New Calaveras Dam with a plaque. 
Left to right:
Sharon Tapia from DSOD, Dan Wade, Lakeisha Bryant from Congressman Ro Khanna's office, Chad Mathes from Dragados, Harlan L. Kelly Jr. SFPUC General Manager, Commission Vice President Francesca Vietor, Commissioner Tim Paulson, Matt Bedinger from Senator Kamala Harris' Office, Commissioner Anson Moran, BAWSCA Board Chair Barbara Pierce, and Rob Stoker from the Alameda County Building and Trades Council. 




We were honored that Assemblymember Kansen Chu spoke at the event. 
From left to right: Lakeisha Bryant, Tim Paulson, Rob Stoker, Assemblymember Chu, Matt Bedinger, Emily Lam, Director of Legislative Affairs for the SFPUC.



The New Calaveras Dam

It was a joyous and wonderful occasion. See you around the Valley!

Moth Photo Friday

Happy Photo Friday from the Calaveras Dam Replacement Project!

Today we we'd like to draw attention to a special visitor to our trailers. Meet the Hyalophora euryalus moth.  We found this beauty on the doorstep of our trailers.  Lucky for us, our SFPUC photographer, Robin, was onsite to capture these photos.

The Hyalophora euryalus moth is a very large red-brown moth with pale lines and long crescent-shaped hindwing discalspots. This fellow has a broad home range spanning from British Columbia all the way to Baja Mexico. The adults don't eat. But their caterpillars, do, and enjoy a wide range of plants as hosts. 

It somehow found it's way to the Calaveras Dam and we were glad that it stopped by. 

See you around the Valley! 

Fish Passage Facilities Project Reaches a Big Milestone

The team working on the Fish Passage Facilities in the Alameda Creek Watershed Project had reason to celebrate this last week.

The goal of the project is to support the restoration of Steelhead trout to the watershed by providing safe passage around the Alameda Creek Diversion Dam.

Last week the project reached substantial completion. The fish ladder is in full operation and now allows fish to bypass the dam.   So, in honor of all their hard work, the team celebrated with a good old fashioned barbecue.

The team celebrating this accomplishment.

Members of the Watershed Division, Brian Sak and Scott Chenue helped move the project forward and will be managing parts of the project once it's completed. 

The Fish Passage Project even made the news. In case you missed the coverage:

KCBS Radio

KPIX Television 

Thank you to our team and our partners for helping move this project forward.

See you around the Valley!

Join Us at the Wildflower Festival April 14th!

The flowers are blooming all over Sunol Valley and the East Bay. That's right, it's time for the Wildflower Festival at the Sunol Regional Wilderness.

Hosted by the East Bay Regional Park District, the Wildflower Festival features:

• Guided hikes for all ability levels
• Activity stations
• Educational Booths
• Free Make and Take Crafts
• Live Music
• And so much more!

Sunday, April 14, 2019, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Sunol Regional Wilderness, 1895 Geary Road, Sunol

Overflow parking available along Calaveras Road.

For more information, check out the East Bay Regional Park District’s website, or call

510-544-3249.

Visit us at the SFPUC booth. Make crafts and test your watershed knowledge for prizes!

 We hope to you there!